SWAC men's basketball tournament

The SWAC men's basketball tournament (popularly known as the SWAC Tournament) is the conference championship tournament in basketball for the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). The tournament has been held every year since 1978. It is a single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records. The winner, declared conference champion, receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA men's basketball tournament. It is a single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records. The winner, declared conference champion, receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. On seven occasions, the SWAC champion has won an NCAA Division I tournament game (two being in the First Round and five in preliminary rounds).[1]

SWAC men's basketball tournament
Conference basketball championships
SportCollege basketball
ConferenceSouthwestern Athletic Conference
Number of teams8
FormatSingle-elimination tournament
Current stadiumBartow Arena
Current locationBirmingham, Alabama
Played1978–present
Last contest2024
Current championGrambling State
Most championshipsTexas Southern (11)
Official websiteSWAC Men's Basketball

The 1977–78 season was the SWAC's first as an NCAA Division I basketball conference, but it was not until 1980 that the champion went to the Division I tournament; most notably, the 1979 champion was Alcorn State, who went 27-0 but only received an NIT bid (where they lost in the second round) as they had "not yet completed the three years of adherence to a 2.00 average entrance requirement."[2][3]

The semi-final and championship SWAC Basketball Tournament games are held at the Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.[4] As of the 2017 tournaments,[5] they feature an eight-team three-day layout with the quarterfinal rounds hosted on campus sites. This changes the previous 10-team, five-day tournament format. The higher seeded teams will host a combined eight games leaving two days for travel and practice rounds. The tournament concludes with the semi-finals and championship rounds inside Birmingham's Bill Harris Arena. Winners of the tournaments earn automatic bids to their respective NCAA Division I Tournaments. The championship games are nationally televised live annually on an ESPN network. In 2017, the trophy was named to honor Davey Whitney, the legendary coach that had won twelve regular season SWAC championships and seven SWAC tournaments, both of which being the most in conference history. [6]

List of champions (pre-tournament) edit

Year Regular season Coach
1956-57 Texas Southern Edward H. Adams
1957-58 Texas Southern Edward H. Adams
1958-59 Grambling State Fred Hobdy
1959-60 Grambling State Fred Hobdy
1960-61 Prairie View A&M Leroy Moore, Jr
1961-62 Prairie View A&M Leroy Moore, Jr
1962-63 Grambling State Fred Hobdy
1963-64 Grambling State
Jackson State
Fred Hobdy
Harrison Wilson
1964-65 Southern Richard Mack
1965-66 Alcorn State
Grambling State
E.E. Simmons
Fred Hobdy
1966-67 Alcorn State
Arkansas–Pine Bluff
Grambling State
Bob Hopkins
Hubert O. Clemmons
Fred Hobdy
1967-68 Alcorn State
Jackson State
Bob Hopkins
Paul Covington
1968-69 Alcorn State Bob Hopkins
1969-70 Jackson State Paul Covington
1970-71 Grambling State Fred Hobdy
1971-72 Grambling State Fred Hobdy
1972-73 Alcorn State Davey Whitney
1973-74 Jackson State Paul Covington
1974-75 Jackson State Paul Covington
1975-76 Alcorn State Davey Whitney
1976-77 Texas Southern Robert Moreland

List of champions (tournament era) edit

Year Regular season Coach Tournament champion Score Tournament runner-up Tournament winning coach
1978 Southern Carl Stewart Jackson State Paul Covington
1979 Alcorn State Davey Whitney Alcorn State 108–89 Southern Davey Whitney
1980 Alcorn State Davey Whitney Alcorn State 83–61 Grambling State Davey Whitney
1981 Alcorn State
Southern
Davey Whitney
Carl Stewart
Southern 69–63 Jackson State Carl Stewart
1982 Alcorn State
Jackson State
Davey Whitney
Paul Covington
Alcorn State 87–77 Jackson State Davey Whitney
1983 Texas Southern Robert Moreland Alcorn State 81–69 Texas Southern Davey Whitney
1984 Alcorn State Davey Whitney Alcorn State 78–69 Texas Southern Davey Whitney
1985 Alcorn State Davey Whitney Southern 85–70 Alcorn State Bob Hopkins
1986 Alcorn State
Southern
Davey Whitney
Bob Hopkins
Mississippi Valley State 75–58 Prairie View A&M Lafayette Stribling
1987 Grambling State Bob Hopkins Southern 105–55 Grambling State Ben Jobe
1988 Southern Ben Jobe Southern 78–62 Grambling State Ben Jobe
1989 Grambling State
Southern
Texas Southern
Bob Hopkins
Ben Jobe
Robert Moreland
Southern 86–81 Texas Southern Ben Jobe
1990 Southern Ben Jobe Texas Southern 94–89 Southern Robert Moreland
1991 Jackson State Andy Stoglin Jackson State 70–66 Texas Southern Andy Stoglin
1992 Texas Southern
Mississippi Valley State
Robert Moreland
Lafayette Stribling
Mississippi Valley State 85–77 Southern Lafayette Stribling
1993 Jackson State Andy Stoglin Southern 101–80 Jackson State Ben Jobe
1994 Texas Southern Robert Moreland Texas Southern 70–67 Jackson State Robert Moreland
1995 Texas Southern Robert Moreland Texas Southern 75–62 Mississippi Valley State Robert Moreland
1996 Jackson State
Mississippi Valley State
Andy Stoglin
Lafayette Stribling
Mississippi Valley State 111–94 Jackson State Lafayette Stribling
1997 Mississippi Valley State Lafayette Stribling Jackson State 81–74 Mississippi Valley State Andy Stoglin
1998 Texas Southern Robert Moreland Prairie View A&M 59–57 Texas Southern Elwood Plummer
1999 Alcorn State Davey Whitney Alcorn State 89–83 Southern Davey Whitney
2000 Alcorn State Davey Whitney Jackson State 76–61 Southern Andy Stoglin
2001 Alabama State Rob Spivery Alabama State 64–52 Alcorn State Rob Spivery
2002 Alcorn State Davey Whitney Alcorn State 70–67 Alabama State Davey Whitney
2003 Prairie View A&M Jerome Francis Texas Southern 77–68 Alcorn State Ronnie Courtney
2004 Mississippi Valley State Lafayette Stribling Alabama State 63–58 Alabama A&M Rob Spivery
2005 Alabama A&M L. Vann Pettaway Alabama A&M 72–53 Alabama State L. Vann Pettaway
2006 Southern Rob Spivery Southern 57–44 Arkansas–Pine Bluff Rob Spivery
2007 Mississippi Valley State James Green Jackson State 81–71 Mississippi Valley State Tevester Anderson
2008 Alabama State Lewis Jackson Mississippi Valley State 59–58 Jackson State James Green
2009 Alabama State Lewis Jackson Alabama State 65–58 Jackson State Lewis Jackson
2010 Arkansas–Pine Bluff George Ivory Arkansas–Pine Bluff 50–38 Texas Southern George Ivory
2011 Texas Southern Tony Harvey Alabama State 65–48 Grambling State Lewis Jackson
2012 Mississippi Valley State Sean Woods Mississippi Valley State 71–69 Texas Southern Sean Woods
2013 Texas Southern [a] Mike Davis Southern 45–44 Prairie View A&M Roman Banks
2014 Southern[b] Roman Banks Texas Southern 78–73 Prairie View A&M Mike Davis
2015 Texas Southern Mike Davis Texas Southern 62–58 Southern[c] Mike Davis
2016 Texas Southern Mike Davis Southern 54–53 Jackson State Roman Banks
2017 Texas Southern Mike Davis Texas Southern 53–50 Alcorn State[d] Mike Davis
2018 Grambling State[e] Donte Jackson Texas Southern 84–69 Arkansas–Pine Bluff Mike Davis
2019 Prairie View A&M Byron Smith Prairie View A&M 92–86 Texas Southern Byron Smith
2020 Prairie View A&M Byron Smith Canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic
2021 Prairie View A&M Byron Smith Texas Southern 80–61 Prairie View A&M Johnny Jones
2022 Alcorn State Landon Bussie Texas Southern 87–62 Alcorn State Johnny Jones
2023 Alcorn State Landon Bussie Texas Southern 61–58 Grambling State Johnny Jones
2024 Grambling State Donte Jackson Grambling State 75–66 Texas Southern Donte Jackson

Men's basketball tournament performance by school edit

School Championships Years
Texas Southern
11
1990, 1994, 1995, 2003, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023
Southern
9
1981, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993, 2006, 2013, 2016
Alcorn State
7
1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1999, 2002
Jackson State
5
1978, 1991, 1997, 2000, 2007
Mississippi Valley State
5
1986, 1992, 1996, 2008, 2012
Alabama State
4
2001, 2004, 2009, 2011
Prairie View A&M
2
1998, 2019
Alabama A&M
1
2005
Arkansas–Pine Bluff
1
2010
Grambling State
1
2024
Bethune–Cookman
0
Florida A&M
0

Coaches with multiple championships edit

Regular season edit

Coach Championships Years
Davey Whitney 12 1973, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1999, 2000, 2002
Fred Hobdy 8 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1972
Robert Moreland 7 1977, 1983, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1998
Bob Hopkins 6 1967, 1968, 1969, 1986, 1987, 1989
Paul Covington 5 1968, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1982
Lafayette Stribling 4 1992, 1996, 1997, 2004
Mike Davis 4 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017
Ben Jobe 3 1988-1990
Andy Stoglin 3 1991, 1993, 1996
Byron Smith 3 2019, 2020, 2021
Edward H. Adams 2 1957, 1958
Leroy Moore, Jr 2 1961, 1962
Rob Spivery 2 2001, 2006
Carl Stewart 2 1978, 1981
Lewis Jackson 2 2008, 2009
Landon Bussie 2 2022, 2023
Donte Jackson 2 2023, 2024

SWAC Tournament edit

Coach Championships Years
Davey Whitney 7 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1999, 2002
Ben Jobe 4 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993
Mike Davis 4 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018
Johnny Jones 3 2021, 2022, 2023
Lafayette Stribling 3 1986, 1992, 1996
Robert Moreland 3 1990, 1994, 1995
Andy Stoglin 3 1991, 1997, 2000
Rob Spivery 3 2001, 2004, 2006
Roman Banks 2 2013, 2016
Lewis Jackson 2 2009, 2011

References edit

  1. ^ https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2023-02-20/here-every-hbcu-has-won-mens-ncaa-tournament-game-history?amp
  2. ^ "SWAC Regular Season Champions, by Year".
  3. ^ https://www.kansas.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/ask-sports/article1136609.html
  4. ^ "SWAC Announces Partnership with City of Birmingham". July 12, 2018.
  5. ^ "SWAC concludes Spring Meetings". Swac.org. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  6. ^ https://swac.org/news/2017/7/19/211653197.aspx
  7. ^ https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/swac/2012/10/09/texas-southern-ncaa-postseason-bans/1622627/
  8. ^ https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10536916/ncaa-gives-swac-automatic-berth-exemption
  9. ^ https://www.three-man-weave.com/3mw/swac-tourney-2016-17
  10. ^ "4 mid-major schools ineligible for postseason due to APR scores". Mid-Major Madness. Retrieved 2017-11-09.

Notes edit

  1. ^ Texas Southern was not eligible for the SWAC Tournament due to academic violations.[7]
  2. ^ Southern, alongside Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Grambling and Mississippi Valley State, were not eligible for the SWAC Tournament due to bad APR scores, but the schools were allowed to play due to a special waiver as the SWAC had just six eligible schools. If any of the four schools had won the tournament, the "team among the six eligible teams that advances the furthest in the tournament would receive the NCAA tournament bid." As none of the four ineligible schools won the 2014 final, this was rendered moot.[8]
  3. ^ Southern, while allowed to play in the 2015 tournament, would not have been allowed to play in the NCAA Tournament regardless if they won due to sanctions.
  4. ^ Alcorn State, while allowed to play in the 2017 tournament, would not have been allowed to play in the NCAA Tournament regardless if they won due to APR penalties; an Alcorn State victory in the tournament final would have meant the regular season champion, Texas Southern, would receive the NCAA bid.[9]
  5. ^ Grambling was ineligible to play in the SWAC tournament for the right to play in the NCAA tournament due to APR violations.[10]